COVID-19 cases are rising across the country and in Wisconsin, and more young people are getting sick from it, one of the region’s top doctors said.
Young people “have a different way of looking at life and thinking about risk,” said Dr. John Raymond, president and CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin, in an interview aired Sunday on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.
“They tend to be more socially active and interactive and may be less likely to adhere to distancing and face mask guidelines,” Raymond said. “They are more likely to congregate at bars and house parties, settings in which COVID-19 may spread more easily.”
Raymond said young people also are more likely to be frontline essential workers interacting with the public, another reason they are increasingly being seen with coronavirus.
While many young people are likely to have COVID-19 symptoms that are not as severe, they “can be sick enough to require hospitalization and can even die,” he said.
He urged young people to take the risk of COVID-19 seriously.
“You’re not immortal and you can die from this disease, so be careful,” he said.
Also on the program, a Milwaukee alderwoman said members of the city’s Common Council will consider a face mask mandate at a meeting later this week.
Marina Dimitrijevic said the face mask ordinance will be called “Milwaukee CARES,” and it would require people to wear a face mask or covering in public.
She said the ordinance has “great support,” especially in the business community, which sees it as a way to reopen the economy safely.
“UpFront” host Adrienne Pedersen asked Dimitrijevic how the ordinance would be enforced.
Dimitrijevic said the city would be “hoping for compliance,” rather than leaning on enforcement.
“We’re going to do this together as a community,” she said.
In another segment, Pedersen toured the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, which closed to the public in 2018, but is now under new ownership and could reopen next year.
The Yerkes Future Foundation is the new owner of the observatory, and it is made up of local people who take great pride in the observatory, spokesman Dianna Colman said.
The foundation is trying to raise around $20 million to restore the observatory and reopen it for a variety of uses.
See more from the program: http://wisn.com/upfront